PS 3521 
.L4 K5 
1913 
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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



KIRS TIN 



A PLAY IN FOUR ACTS 



BY 
ALICE COLE KLEENE 




BOSTON 

SHERMAN, FRENCH ^ COMPANY 

1913 



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\.0< 



Copyright, 1913 
Sherman, French & Company 



M 16 1914 



^ 



TO 

ELISABETH WORK HOOKER 



A version of the story by 
Hans Christian Andersen 



-sisters of Kirstin 



CHARACTERS 

BELOW THE SEA 

Kirstin, a sea-nymph 

Erik, the deep-sea king 

Gerda, aged grandmother of Kirstin 

Thora, a sea-nymph 

AsTRiD, the enchantress 

DiSA 

SiGRID 

Erlhild 

GUDRID 

Ingeborg 

Sea-nymphs, kings, monsters, and sprites. 

IN THE WORLD 
Kirstin 

OsGOD, a prince 

Dagmar, a queen, mother of Osgod 
Inga, a princess 

People of the court, ancient man, legate, and 
sailors. 



ACT I 

TABLEAU I 
Grotto at the Bottom of the Sea 



The scene represents the hall of a sea-kmg^s 
palace. In the background to the left * of the 
center, the wall has the vague form of pillars, 
between which several corridors give entrance 
to the ballroom. Down * the stage to the right 
is an entrance to the other rooms of the palace 
and halfway up the stage to the left a broad 
archway leads to the sea. Near the footlights 
to the left is a low seat of rocJc partly sheltered 
by some branching sea-growth, and beside it, 
leaning against the wall, the battered figure- 
head of a ship, showing the head and breast of 
a woman. To the right and well down the 
stage, an armchair of porphyry stands at an 
angle to the wall. Shells and flowers of the 
sea wrought into garlands hang about the 

* Right and left mean the right and left of a person 
on the stage facing the audience. Up and down the 
stage mean respectively away from and toward the 
footlights. 

1 



i^it0tin 



grotto and are twined in ropes around the pil- 
lars. The -floor is strewn with sand and over 
all there streams a soft, unearthly light. The 
time is evening of the birthday when Kirstin 
has become old enough to visit the world. 



The rising curtain discovers Gerda seated 
in the armchair of porphyry, combing her long 
hair, white as the foam of the sea. Tiny crea- 
tures with bodies of gold and silver, and iri- 
descent wings that pulse like fins, flit through 
the archway, bringing in the folds of their 
gauzy garments pearls and pieces of coral 
which they pour down on the sand to form a lit- 
tle heap on either side of Gerda. One group 
clustered about the heap of pearls, and the 
other around that of corals, begin to string 
them into two long necklaces. Without is heard 
a chorus of voices, at first far off, but soon close 
at hand. Enter on the left the five sisters of 
Kirstin, laden with rose and purple sea-anemo- 
nes, which they arrange on the pillars and walls 
of the grotto, still singing: 

CHORUS 
Come, come, come away, 
For the hours are sweet as a silver bell, 
And life was made to be merry and gay, 
Down where the sea-nymphs dwell 



mimin 



Fathoms deep in the ocean stream 
Where the coral branches gently sway, 
And shells of pearl and opal gleam 
On the gold and silver-grey. 
O life was made to be merry and gay ; 
If the heart be light, then all is well. 
We have no need to toil or pray, 
Fathoms deep where the sea-nymphs dwell. 
For the hours are sweet as a silver bell, 
And life was made to be merry and gay. 
Come, come, come away. 

Come, come, come away. 

To laugh and sing, to dance and roam 

Merrily, merrily all the day 

Over the fields of foam. 

Climb up to a world all blue and gold. 

Where the plunging herds of porpoise play, 

And the old sea lion, wise and bold. 

Basks in a summer bay. 

Merrily, merrily all the day 

With a laugh and song to dance and roam 

Where the south wind flings the surf and spray 

Flying over the fields of foam; 

To laugh and sing, to dance and roam 

Merrily, merrily all the day. 

Come, come, come away. 

The comb has fallen from the hand of Gerda, 



»ir0tin 



who has been sitting in a drowsy attitude as 
if dozing, but the song ended, she starts up and 
looks about the grotto, then bending forward, 
peers at the sprites to scrutinize their work. 

Gerda. Give me those pearls. 

Sprite. I gathered them myself 

By the moonlight. 

Gerda. They are not white enough. 

I bade you bring me nothing but the whitest 
For Kirstin's birthday necklace, — such as 

these 
Would blush for shame. [Hands them bacJc.l 

Sprite. Shall I go back and see 

If there be any whiter? 

Gerda. Shall you go? 

Quick, silly sprite. 

\_Exit Sprite. Enter others, bringing coraL'\ 
Now, sluggards, to your task. 
Use but the rosy pieces without flaw, 
Worthy of darling Kirs tin, who will be 
The queen of all to-night. 

SiGRiD. More fair than Thora, 

Once called the loveliest beneath the sea, 
Thora, whom never yet could sea-king win, 
Because of Erik. 

Erlhild. Erik loves her not. 

DisA. That garland from the deep sea Erik 
sent 
For Kirstin's birthday. 



mir0tfn 



Voices. Oh, Oh! 

GuDRiD. Thora is 

Most beautiful. 

DisA. Yes, beautiful, but Kirstin 

Outshines her now. 

SiGRiD. And she hath gift of song. 

Sprites pass in and out, replenishing the 
heaps of pearl and coral. The group working 
on the necklace of pearl rise up and bear their 
string before Gerda, who grimly points to a 
pearl halfway down. Running back, they pluck 
this out, and go on working busily. The sis- 
ters, having disposed their flowers about the 
grotto, give a last touch to the garlands, and 
group themselves on the sand. 

DisA. What makes our Kirstin sad? 

GuDRiD. Is Kirstin sad.? 

Ingeborg. Nay, she is very happy. 

Erlhild. All her years 

How eagerly has our sweet sister waited 
The dawning of this birthday. 

GuDRiD. We are glad 

That she is old enough to join us now 
Whene'er we leave the depths and go to range 
Over the windy waves. 

Ingeborg. We were not sad 

At visiting the world, still it is strange 
When from the sea one suddenly emerges 
For the first time. 



6 mit0tin 



Erlhild. 'Tis something that she saw 

Has made our sister sad. 

SiGRiD. I know what she 

Saw in the world to-day. 

Erlhild. When I rose first 

I ghded up a river and beheld 
Green coral branches trembling to the blue, 
And chubby children splashed in the clear 

stream 
As we do. 

SiGRiD. Kirstin saw — 

DisA. And I remember 

The feel of moonlight streaming on my head. 
Beyond, blue smoke rose, and a lofty spire 
Where loud bells called; and I was heavy- 
hearted 
Because I could not follow. 

GuDRiD. In mid-sea 

I came upon an island full of gay 
Petals like these, but fragile, with a smell 
Strange to a flower. 

SiGRiD. Sisters, if ye be done. 

Hear what she saw to-day, our little Kirstin — 
I know, for while I followed within call, 
Suddenly from the clouds a storm descended. 
Shot through with fire till all the water smoked ; 
And to her arms drifted a drowning prince. 
She clasped him close, singing a strange, wild 
lay, 



lKir0tin 



And heavily rested his human head 
Upon her tender breast. 

Enter sprite with fan-shaped corals of lace- 
like beauty. The sisters move toward her with 
cries of admiration, each choosing one for her- 
self excepting Disa, who lingers thoughtfully by 

SiGRID. 

Disa. How fortunate 

To see a human being! { Without sounds of 
revelry are heard.^ 

Gerda. Idle sprites, 

If you had chattered less, and labored more, 
The jewels would be strung. Away, away. 
And dare not show yourselves until you finish 
That crimson chaplet. [^To sisters^ Do you 

stay and greet 
The guests, for I myself will take this fan 
To Kirstin, and at last the necklaces. 

Sprites advancing from either side present 
them to her. She secretes them in the folds of 
her garments. Exit Gerda. Some of the 
sprites scoop up the jewels left, and smooth the 
sand till no trace of their presence remains; 
others gather up the loose blossoms. They have 
barely time to escape when from the archway to 
the left enter with rhythmic motion a company 
of sea-folk in soft colored, trailing robes with 
bracelets of jade and amber gleaming on their 
naked arms. The music to which they keep time 



8 mmin 



is that of their own voices^ accompanied hy the 
strings of a great shell. 

CHORUS 

O life it is for pleasure, sweet pleasure un- 
alloyed, 

And let there be no measure until the heart is 
cloyed. 

Joy after joy we'll number before the senses 
tire, 

And then come blessed slumber to re-create de- 
sire. 

How like a thing of malice the human lot ap- 
pears. 

So soon to drain life's chalice of all its wine and 
tears ; 

Gone youth, gone joy, gone laughter — all that 
is life indeed — 

And that to follow after that none may know or 
need. 

give me breath and motion, quick pulses 
throbbing high, 

The wild delights of ocean and of the spray- 
white sky. 

Of years without affliction my thousand give to 
me, 

And take who will the fiction of immortality. 



Clitstin 9 



Sisters \^clasping hands with the guests in an 
interchange of greetings^ 
Welcome, thrice welcome, daughters of the sea, 
And sea-kings, come the day to celebrate 
When she, our youngest one, our best-beloved, 
Hath visited the world on high. 

SiGRiD [after a pause] Nay, three 
Are missing — Erik nowhere have I seen, 
Thora, nor little Elwyn. 

Thora comes forward from the company 
to present herself. 

Sisters. Welcome, Thora! 

Hardly has she been greeted, when all turn 
to the entrance on the right. Hand in hand 
with Gerda enters Kirstin, clad in pearl-white, 
wearing the necklace of coral and that of pearl. 
The guests throng around her to kiss her hand, 
or if they cannot press near enough, must con- 
tent themselves with kissing their hands to her. 

Chorus of Voices. Hail, all hail to Kirstin. 
Joy be hers for a thousand years. 

Kirstin. O happy, festal night, 
O beautiful, wonderful sight. 
Flowers and music, laughter and mirth — 
Was there ever so sweet a banquet on earth? 

Chorus of Voices. All, all in Kirstin's 
honor 
We gather here to-night. 

From the left enter Erik, the deep-sea king. 



10 i&it0titt 



whose arrival is greeted with applause. Gerda, 
extending her hand, receives him with impressive 
and cordial manner. 

Gerda. Far thou journeyest to bring 
Greeting unto us, great king, 
Now that she, our little one, 
Hath the chrism of the sun. 

Presents him to Kirstin. 
Erik, King of the Deep Sea. 

KiRSTiN \^giving him her hand~\ Comest thou 
to honor me, 
Erik, King of the Deep Sea? 

Erik. On this happy natal day 
It is Kirstin we obey. 
Bid me whatsoe'er you will. 

Kirstin. You, whose word the storm can 
still. 
In whose palaces profound 
Is no sunlight, stir, nor sound — 
Erik, shall this little hand 
Greatest of all kings command? 

Erik. Queen of nymphs, what shall it be? 

Kirstin [after a moment's thought^ Sing a 
song of the deep sea. 

The others fall bach to listen, and stand 
massed to right and left. Kirstin gazes 
eagerly/ into Erik's face as he sings. 



Kitstin 11 



DEEP-SEA SONG* 

Fathomless, darkening deep, 
Far below all unrest. 
Calm more serene than sleep, 
Known by the mermen blest. 

Fathomless all delight: 
Naught in the shimmering green 
Reck we of Heaven's blight 
On the hapless world between. 

CHORUS 

Roll on the distant mortal strand, ye waves of 

Change and Time, 
While deep, deep, deep in the vastness dim, a 

thousand years are mine. 
The whole company take up this verse^ which 
rises and falls in a mighty volume, like the sound 
of muny waters. 

Call of deep unto deep. 
Thunder of sounding tide. 
Peril and loss that sweep 
The path of the wind's wild ride. 

Pouring the deep sea wine 
Into the cup of gold, 

* Written by Elisabeth Work Hooker. 



12 fiiimin 



Pledge me a love like mine, 
Love that can ne'er grow old. 

CHORUS 

Roll on the distant mortal strand, ye waves of 

Change and Time, 
While deep, deep, deep in the vastness dim, a 

thousand years are mine. 

As the applause dies away, Erik claims Kir- 
STiN for the dance, and followed by others, they 
pass to the ballroom through the corridors in 
the rear. Thora stays behind, Gerda, stand- 
ing at the entrance to watch the dance, turn- 
mg, glances over the deserted hall and espies 
her. 

Gerda. Are you not dancing, Thora? 

Then come watch 

The graceful maze. With you away, the belle 

Is Kirstin. All the kings and loveliest nymphs 

Have come. Nay, one is missing. Tell me, 

why 
Is Elwyn absent.? 

Exeunt. Enter two tiny sprites, carrying a 
wreath of flowers. They tread slowly and cau- 
tiously. 

First. Music ! Do you think 

That I might peep inside? 

Second. You are moon-mad! 



chimin is 



First. I wish that we could have one little 
glimpse 
Of Kirstin in her necklaces. 

Second. I dare 

Not think of such a thing. 

First. What will they do 

With this red chaplet.? 

Second. Crown the birthday child 

Queen of the Feast ! 

They stand resting the crown on its edge^ 
then with much tugging lift it up to a niclie in 
the wall, and wiping their brows, sit down to 
rest. 

Second. Now we must fly. 

First. I wish 

I were a sea-nymph. 

Second [mischievouslyl Gerda? 
First. Gerda ! Kirstin. 

They're coming. 

Second. Away, away, 

First. Away. 

Exeunt sprites to the sea. Enter dancers 
from rear. Enter other sprites from right 
hearing little goblets of shells, and to Thora 
is awarded the honor of placing on Kirstin's 
brow the chaplet of red flowers and of propos- 
ing the toast. 



14 iSiimin 



TOAST 

Kirstin, Kirstin, Queen of Song, 
Queen of Beauty, from this throng 
Take the crown of Love and Praise ; 
Thine be delightful days ! 
Kirstin, hail to thee, 
Pearl of the Sea. 

After the toast is drunk, the sprites hear 
away the shells that served as cups, and falling 
back to give Kirstin audience, her guests de- 
mand a song from the Queen of Song. Flushed 
with pleasure, she sings 

SONG OF THE GOLDEN APPLE 

Far away in the pale-blue bowers 
Of a silent southern sea. 
With gold and crimson colored flowers, 
Grows a wonderful tropic tree. 

Far to seek and far to find. 
The silver boughs that hold 
The apple with the golden rind 
And core of finest gold. 

Down in the caves of dream and sleep. 
From human fingers placed. 
Only the children of the deep 
That magic fruit may taste. 



mmin 15 



And having eaten of the tree, 
Those who but once recline 
Within its silver shade, shall be 
Made merry as with wine. 

We have slept in the pale-blue bowers 
Of that silent southern sea, 
We have plucked the crimson flowers 
Of the wonderful tropic tree. 

And the brows of us are smooth of care, 
Our eyes are free from tears. 
And our hearts shall be as light as air. 
For a thousand, thousand years. 

The song finished, all the sea-nymphs except 
Thora, who stands a little apart, stretch hands 
toward Kirstin in love and admiration with- 
out a trace of envy, and the kings draw near. 
She stands in their midst, radiant. Suddenly 
a dark shadow falls upon the company, moving 
slowly across the stage from right to left. The 
music breaks off, the sea-folk start and shiver 
at sight of the shadow, hut Kirstin lifts her 
hands toward it in an impulsive gesture of 
yearning. A firm voice breaks the tension, 

Gerda. 'Tis but the moving shadow of a 
ship. 



16 mt^tin 



KiRSTiN \_ver2/ softly^ A ship and human 
beings. 

Music begins again, and for the second time 
partners pass out to the ballroom. Kirstin, 
declining to dance, crosses the stage and stands 
thoughtfully regarding the figurehead of the 
ship, with her finger tracing the outline of the 
maiden's head and breast. Turning, she finds 
herself alone with Gerda, who has been watch- 
ing her intently. 

Kirstin. Where is Elw3m 

That she comes not to-night? Dear to my 

eyes 
The hght of hers and dear to me her voice. 
I wish that she were with us. 

She tahes Gerda by the hand, and leading 
her to the armchair of porphyry, sits down at 
her feet. 

Gerda. Kirstin, you 

Go join the merrymakers. Tarry not 
With one so old and weary. 

Kirstin [^silencing her with an affectionate 
gesture] Listen, Gerda, 

For I have many things to learn of thee. 
My sisters cannot tell me all I ask, 
Though they be wise. You are my father's 

mother. 
And very, very old. I am so young, 



iBiir0tin 17 



And ignorant of the land above the sea 
Where men live. Pray what is it to be human? 

Gerda. What mean you by "What is it to 
be human?" 
Can you imagine beings made to miss 
The joys we sea-folk know? Such is their lot. 
They may not plunge down through the smooth, 

green water, 
Nor sit in grottoes bright with pearl and gold. 
Drinking the deep-sea wine that fires the heart. 

KmsTiN. May they not dance upon the 
golden sands, 
Nor pluck the purple sea-anemones? 
But the air of the world is very wide and free ; 
Surely they live forever there. 

Gerda. They too 

Must perish and be seen no more, but we 
Live for a thousand years, before the joy 
Of our glad being turns to nothingness 
Of the sea's foam. 

KiRSTiN. They do not live so long? 

Gerda. Not half so long as we. Brief 
lives and sad 
Have they. Their babes are born with bitter 

travail. 
And all their years they struggle bitterly, 
Stung by sharp throes of yearning and desire 
Until their days numbered. 

KiRSTiN. Is that all? 



18 i^ir0tin 



Gerda. No; finally, 'tis said, their grosser 
part 
Falls from them like a garment, and as we 
Surmount the liquid steep when we desire 
To reach the world above, so they surmount 
The steep of air to breast some deep beyond, 
We know not of. 

KiRSTiN. Alas, and why should we 

Not be immortal? Could I swim so high 
To reach that world sublime, I would exchange 
My thousand years for but a single day 
With hope of that strange life. 

Gerda. My child, my child, 

Wild are your words. Our lot is truly best, 
Far happier than that of humankind. 

KiRSTiN. But we must finally return to 
foam. 

Gerda. To foam, indeed, after a thousand 
years. 

KiRSTiN. Alas that I must die, dashed like 
the foam 
On the sea's face, grown deaf to the sea sounds, 
Blind to the sun and flowers ! Is there no way 
To gain what they have.? 

Gerda {^smiling'] Darling, what would 

you, 
A sea-nymph, do with an immortal soul.^^ 
This coral necklace is a better gift 
Than soul immortal. 



mit0tin 19 



KiRSTiN [laughing] Little do I know 
What souls are, but I like my necklaces 
And shining gown ; why, I can think of nothing 
That I would rather have. 

[Fingering the necklaces'] 

Is there no way 
To win a soul immortal? 

Gerda. Ask me not. 

We're better off without one. Pray what gain 
Have human beings with their souls ? Are they 
One half so happy as the free sea-folk 
Who have no soul, but live a thousand years.? 

KiRSTiN. And then return to foam. 

Gerda. A lucky end. 

It might be worse. It would be far, far worse 
To toil and suffer for a little span 
And after that, who knows ? How can there be 
Sea-people rash enough to take the chance.? 

KiRSTiN. What chance.? There is a way, 
then. 

Gerda. Yes, one way. 

But only one, and that impossible. 

KiRSTiN. Wholly impossible? 

Gerda. Unless you gained 

That which you cannot gain, child. 

KiRSTiN. And what is that? 

Gerda. If thou couldst win a human be- 
ing's heart, 
Kirstin, so that he loved thee utterly, 



^0 lBiit0tin 



And if with hand in thine before the priest 
He vowed to love thee only evermore, 
Then would this human soul flow into thine, 
And thou wouldst share his immortality. 

KiRSTiN. And has a human being never 
loved 
The daughter of a sea-king? 

Gerda. No, for we 

Are not as they who walk upon the earth. 

KiRSTiN. Sea-people rash enough to take 
the chance — 
Gerda, what did you mean.? 

Gerda [disturbedl Did I say that? 
Too long we tarry here. 

Rises. Enter Thora in agitation. Kir- 
STiN rises. 

Thora. Oh, have you heard 

That Elwyn, fascinated by the spell 
Of things above the sea, has fled away 
To Astrid's cave? 

Kirstin {^taking a step toward Thora] 
Astrid ? 

Thora. Know you not 

Beyond my father's kingdom, and beyond 
The pastures of the dreadful octopi. 
Dwells the more dreadful Astrid, who hath 

power 
With subtle incantation? In her cave 
Doth she compound strange simples, amulets, 



Kit0tin 21 



And much by the sea-children is besought, 
For whatsoe'er she will is brought to pass 
By means of magic, and it seems that she 
Hath wrought a spell whereby with dire dis- 
tress 
Sea-children may be made as human folk. 

Gerda stands a little behind Kirstin, front- 
ing Thora with a look of horror. Enter a 
pair of dancers, tripping across the stage in the 
background, singing. 

O life was made to be merry and gay, 
If the heart be light, then all is well. 
We have no need to toil or pray. 
Fathoms deep, where the sea-folk dwell — 

Kirstin [a strange light falls upon her up- 
lifted face as she stands with hands clasped on 
her breast, murmuring:'] 
Then would his human soul flow into mine, 
And I should share his immortality. 

Passing across the stage, she takes her seat 
under the sea-palm and gazes before her into 
the distance. 

Gerda [draws Thora closer, speaking rap- 
idly in an undertone] 
And Kirstin too. 

[Thora makes an inarticulate exclamation.] 
Alas, what can be done 



22 Mrstin 



To save my child — it is the very thing 

I dreaded most. My wits go round and round. 

\^Puts her hands to her head.~\ 
O Thora, now the thoughts come clear and 

plain. 
A lover — yes, there's nothing else can make 
A restless-hearted daughter of the sea 
Cold to the cursed attraction. 
Enter Erik. 
Thora [already divining Gerda's intention, 
takes one look at Erik, and turning, 
swiftly lays her hand on Gerda's arm.~\ 
No, no, no. 
Gerda skilfully detaches Thora's hand and 
leads her aside, then with a gesture and whis- 
pered word commits Kirstin to Erik, who 
nothing loath, moves toward her where she sits, 
lost in her own thoughts. In the background 
appears for a moment the face of Gerda 
wreathed in satisfaction, and that of Thora 
full of misery. 

Erik [approaching Kirstin] 
Dost know me not? Thy look is far away. 
Thou art dreaming. 

Kirstin. Yea, thou dost awaken me. 

Erik. Who am I? 

Kirstin. Erik, King of the Deep 

Sea, 



iSiimin 23 



Who sang to me a wonderful deep song 
Of thy domain, down at the core of calm. 

Erik [taking a place beside her'] 
You know me by repute, what coral groves 
Are mine, what palaces of rose and pearl, 
So empty now. 

KiRSTiN [surprised^ 
None through the ocean roves 
But knows thy coral groves, 
Where palaces, pillared and roofed with gold, 
The sea's deep treasures hold. 
Thy scepter summons all things in a trice. 
Do all things not suffice? 

Erik. No, for the sea withholds from me its 
pearl. 
The golden-hearted girl; 
It is for you, dear heart, the golden throne 
Waits there beside mine own, 
For you the scepter and the coral crown, 
The ring, the golden gown. 

KiRSTiN. And this, all this you freely offer 
me, — 
The kingdom of the sea? 
Who would not on that wondrous throne sit 

down, 
Clad in a golden gown. 

Or roam through those delightful forest bow- 
ers, 



mit0tin 



Culling the fairest flowers? 

Erik. Happy shall be our life beyond com- 
pare, 
Secure of woe and care — 

He bends to embrace Iter, and she to yield 
herself to his embrace. Enter Thora, who 
stops and stands for an instant, looking at the 
pair, then turning, passes swiftly through the 
entrance to the sea. Song is heard. 

Fathomless all delight. 
Naught in the shimmering green 
Reck we of Heaven's blight 
On the hapless world between. 

KiRSTiN [drawing back and regarding him in 
perplexitif] 
Happy beyond compare, 
Secure of woe and care? 
I wish there were a shadow on your brow 
That I could smooth away. 

Erik. Beloved, now 

You speak of that in which we have no part — 
Shadows upon the brow, or in the heart. 
A thousand years are ours for joy and pleas- 
ure. 
KiRSTiN. A thousand years that soon fill up 
the measure! 



ffilimitt 25 



Song is heard. 

Call of deep unto deep, 
Thunder of sounding tide, 
Peril and loss that sweep 
The path of the wind's wild ride. 

During the song^ Kirstin rises, and going 
once more to the -figurehead of the wrecked ship, 
gazes upon the marred face of the human 
maiden. From the ballroom come sounds of 
revelry. 

Erik [recalling her thoughts^ 
Are they not merry? 

Kirstin [coming hack to her sedf] 
I, I too, am gay, 
Like them till I recall the final day 
When we must vanish into foam for aye ; 
Then sad am I, 

Yearning to things beneath that human sky. 
Have you felt so? 

Erik. Too often, little one. 

When first we see the sun 
In youth, we are possessed 

By fancies strange, that come to fill the breast 
With longing and unrest. 

I too have known them, but forget your fears. 
Dreams pass as pass the years. 



26 mtstm 



Almost you love me, but whene'er I lean 

To clasp you, something seems to rise between 

And shut me out. Is it another love? 

KiKSTiN. No, Erik ; but the spell of things 
above 
The sea. Within your eyes I cannot find 
The deep look in the eyes of humankind. 
Nor is my being swayed before your prayer 
As something sways me in that wide blue air. 
Go from me. 

Erik. O beloved, let me stay 

And teach you how to love me. 

KiRSTiN. Erik, nay; 

Depart you must. 

Erik. Not till you name the day 

When summoned to your side I may return. 

KiRSTiN. Only when for your absent face I 
yearn ; 
When over tides of song that rise and fall 
I hear your deep voice call 
My name. 

Erik. Your thoughts, beloved, that now 

roam 
Forth to a strange, high world, shall yet turn 

home 
To love that changes not. The day shall come. 

Erik stands for a moment irresolute^ then 
with an air of determination departs through 
the archway to the sea. Sounds of revelry 



mmin 27 



grow louder. A dancer passes in the hack- 
ground, calling Kirstin by name, hut scarcely 
heeds that she does not respond. Laughter, 
music, and the tinkling of glasses floats from 
within, and again a chorus. 

Pouring the deep-sea wine 
Into the cup of gold, 
Pledge me a love like mine, 
Love that can ne'er grow old. 

Kirstin [suddenly rising and listening in- 
tently; the crown of red flowers has 
fallen to her feet'\ 

A voice 
That smites my heart, but not thy voice — O 

Erik, 
Deliver me with but a word, a look. 
Hast thou no power whereby I may escape 
This painful music, music piercing sweet. 
Intolerable, — the keen voice of the world? 

[A group of revellers cross the stage in the 
background. Here a king is in hot pursuit of 
a nymph; one is heing pelted with blossoms, 
another drenched with a shower from a wine 
cup. Exeunt all. With a passionate gesture 
she continues'] 

O, I am utterly alone 
Beneath the sea. For me henceforth no rest, 



28 mir0tin 



And there is none to aid me in my quest, 
For those who love me best can only say 
That idle dreams like mine will fade away. 
So since none else can succor me or save, 
Now will I seek the enchantress in her cave. 

She moves toward the erit ranee to the sea and 
disappears. 



CURTAIN 



ACT II 

TABLEAU II 
Cave of Astrid the Enchantress 



A gloomy grotto^ lower and less spacious 
than that of the scene preceding, is divided by 
the footlights into a form roughly semi- circular. 
An arch-like opening in the right wall up the 
stage leads to an inner cavern, and another, 
down the stage, to the witches garden. Near 
the center of the background is the entrance 
to the sea, wave-worn and almost hidden by 
long, hanging weeds. On either side of this 
entrance the cave is decorated with a conven- 
tional design done in the skulls and thigh bones 
of shipwrecked sailors. The rock on the left 
wall, near the front of the stage, has the shape 
of shelves at a convenient height, forming a 
sort of cupboard, crowded with small, mysteri- 
ous objects. A little farther down the stage 
standi the sooty cauldron inverted against the 
wall with three feet projecting, and beside it 
a long black spoon and a pair of sooty bellows. 
On the wall of the background to the left of 
29 



30 mmin 



ihe entrance a great sword of gold is conspicu- 
ously/ displayed. A crane for the cauldron 
stands near the center of the stage and under- 
neath it hums a green fire. A little to the left 
of this fire is a pile of rocks in the semblance 
of a couch, mantled with moss and weeds. The 
time is midnight of the same day. 



As the curtain rises, Astrid, the enchantress, 
is seen half-sitting, half-reclining on the weedy 
rocks, a repulsive picture of youth and beauty 
fallen to decay. The features once firm and 
regular are now collapsing; the nose and chin 
almost meet. Her shabby raiment, tattered 
like seaweed, blazes with jewels which are the 
eyes of living reptiles. The firelight casts a 
corpse-like pallor on her face, which is partly 
turned toward the audience, and on that of 
Tpiora, who suddenly entering in the back- 
ground, steps from the shadows into the strong 
light, wild-eyed, and dressed as when she fled 
from Kirstin's banquet. Astrid, not deigning 
to regard her, is swaying to and fro, weaving 
an invisible web with her skinny hands and 
droning to herself. 

Astrid [drones'] 

Sea-king, sea-nymph, hither haste — 
Who by me hath been embraced 



Kimin 31 



Shall have dainty fare to taste, 
Amber wine and honey paste. 

Thora. Woe, woe is me. How horrible a 
place — 
That was a serpent's fang that grazed my face. 
Speak, are you Astrid? 

AsTRiD. None except the bold 

Are welcome here. 

Thora. Often have I been told 

Of wonders you perform. By subtle skill 
Do you not bring to pass whate'er you will? 

[AsTRiD nods.'] 
Oh, give me quickly, ere it be too late, 
A magic charm to work on one I hate — 
For I hate Kirstin. 

Astrid. What has Kirstin done 

To make you hate her? 

Thora. Snared the heart of one 

Whom I love. 

Astrid. How ? 

Thora. By music's wondrous note — 

Oh, she has magic in her round, white throat 
To witch the heart out. 

Astrid. H'm, what it be? 

Some sleeping-draught for Kirstin? 

\_Rises and goes to the cupboard.] 

Only three 
Drops of this potion — 



32 l^ir0tin 



Thora [^interrupting and shaking her headl^ 
Something to impair 
Her spell of song, and make her — not so 
fair. 

AsTRiD [soothingl^l Yes, yes, here is the 
very thing to slake 
Your hatred surely, safely, but let's make 
A little compact: if I serve you now, 
Then must you serve me later. 

Thora. How? 

AsTRiD. Somehow, 

I'll find a way. 

Thora, shuddering, reaches for the phial, 
A sound is heard, and she starts and looks 
toward the entrance in the background. 

Thora. No one must see me here. 

AsTRiD [pointing to the door leading to her 
garden, through which Thora disap- 
pears^ 
Sea-king, sea-nymph, hither haste. 
Who by me hath been embraced 
Shall have dainty fare to taste, 
Amber wine and honey paste. 

[Enter Erik, who swiftly makes his way 
around the fire and stands before the en- 
chantress.^ 

Who Cometh to this cave? The deep-sea king 
Omnipotent — he hasn't everything 
Since he seeks Astrid. 



mmitt 83 



Erik. None has ever come 

Pei-plexed as I am. 

AsTRiD. Pooh, 'tis but the sum 

Of every plaint I hear, yet all's the same — 
Two passions working in the blood like flame, 
Diverse, yet one — which is it, love or hate. 
And what shall I procure you.? 

Erik. Astrid, wait. 

I come not as a lover in despair, 
Scorned and rejected. 

Astrid. Do the happy pair 

Resort to me — 

Erik. I almost won her heart, 

When suddenly she bade me to depart. 

Astrid. Ha, ha, a rival who must be dis- 
placed ! 

^Turning to her cupboard] 
I know the very simple. Let her taste 
Two drops of this. 

Erik. Not that, for well I know. 

She hath no other lover. 

Astrid. Ho, ho, ho. 

Shy and elusive is the budding maid. 
Compel, break down her will. 

Erik. I am afraid 

All would be lost. She sets me a strange test. 
Could I be near, my love would warm her 

breast. 
But absent must I win her. 



34 mitstin 



AsTRiD [running about~\ H'm, my fire 

To breed within a maiden's heart desire 
For absent lover till she doth complain 
At sound of music, pierced with secret pain, 
And reach across the darkness arms that yearn 
To welcome you. 

Erik [rapidli/~\ Sibyl, how didst thou learn 
The heart's most hidden secrets to divine, 
Its innermost desires? To make her mine 
Strong must you sow in her desire for me 
To banish visions, fancies. 

AsTRiD. Ah, I see, — 

Spell of the world. This philter has the power. 

Erik. As soon as tasted? 

AsTRiD. Maybe in an hour, 

Or it may be a year — one can but guess ; 
The day will surely come. 

Erik [taking tJie phial] Now, sorceress. 
Ask anything you will. 

AsTRiD. The price? The price 

The merest trifle. Act on my advice. 
And when you win your lady, bring her here 
For Astrid's blessing. 

Erik. No, it costs too dear. 

AsTRiD. Too dear, forsooth? Depart and 
take my curse; 
So lose your precious treasure. 

Erik. That were worse. 

Someone is heard approaching. Erik takes 



ffiiit0tin 35 



the phial which Astrid offers and goes through 
the entrance to the cavern adjoining. Enter 
KiRSTiN, still wearing the necklaces of pearl 
and coral on the white gown, which is now 
stained and torn. 

Astrid l^spitefidlijli Saw you my forest, 

Faint-heart ? 
KiRSTiN [panting so that she can hardly 

speak^ Octopi. 
Astrid. What marked you in the boughs? 
KiRSTiN. A hundred things 

Hugged horribly to death — white grinning 

skulls 
And chests of sunken treasure. 

Astrid. Was that all? 

Why do you shudder? 

KiRSTiN [closing her eyes^ Everywhere I see 
Poor little Elwyn's body folded close, 
With livid eyelids and unhappy hair. 

Astrid. She shunned not the affectionate 
caresses 
Of my fair forest trees, and she is blest. 
But you — 

KiRSTiN. I bound my flying tresses high 

From the dread touch, and with my hands 

crossed so. 
Darted between the trees as fishes glide. 
To tell you — to tell you — 

[She hesitates and looks wjp.] 



36 lBtit0tin 



AsTRiD. To tell me, to tell me — 

KiRSTiN. Alas, how can I tell you anything. 

AsTRiD. Would you be young forever, or 
be old. 
Or would you slay some rival at a stroke? 
Have you some neighbor with too sharp a 

tongue, 
Or would you live another thousand years? 

KiRSTiN. O Astrid, on my birthday comes a 
change. 
Sometimes with sudden start 
I feel from out that arching sky so hollow, 
The large air of the world blown keen and 

strange 
Into my heart, 
And a voice bid me follow. 

AsTRiD. Ho, ho, sea-pleasures all 
Begin to pall. 

KiRSTiN. Not so, but I recall 
That we must leave behind 
Mirth, feasting, music, all 
Our lives, frailer than foam upon the wind. 

AsTRiD. Child, 'tis a sore disease, 
The hardest to control 
Of anything in all the seas, — 
You're threatened with a soul, 
Yet I assure you 
That I can cure you. 

KiRSTIN. No. 



mt^tin 37 



AsTRiD. Weren't you happier before? 

Why darken then my door? 

KiRSTiN. Yes, happier, for now my peace is 
gone, 
Yet would I follow on 

Where'er it leads my feet. The very pain 
It brings me is a kind of joy and gain. 

AsTRiD. O foolish, vain. 
Deluded sea-shape wish! 
You'd better stay a fish. 

Who wants to walk the earth like a human 
being? 

[Laughter from Astrid] 
Who wants to struggle and suffer like a hu- 
man being? 

[Shrill laughter'] 
Who wants to die like a human being? 
[Horrible laughter] 
It is my hardest charm, a special spell 
Whose finest elements are brewed in hell. 

[She makes a peculiar whistling call, and 
one after another hideous shapes enter from 
without into the circle of light, and are dis- 
patched on various errands. Sullenly and in 
silence they depart to do her will. Taking her 
cauldron she hangs it over the crane and into 
it throws objects from her cupboard and oth- 
ers zchich they bring, mumbling the while a mo- 
notonous singsong. Soon the kettle begins to 



38 ffiiirstin 



steam and simmer, and joining hands they 
dance around the bubbling pot ever faster and 
faster, singing :'\ 

CHANT 

Toss into the brew 

Freckled herb that rankest poison drew 
Through its hungry, worm-white rootlets, fed 
Where Death made his bed. 

Fling into the pot 

Fragments of the venom things that rot 
On the ooze — the viscid entrails stink, 
Gurgling as they sink. 

Round and round therein 

Stir mortality, and stir, stir sin, 

Pains that rend the heart and joys that sting — 

Hear the cauldron sing. 

Stir into the brew 

Hopes, a rainbow-colored, bubble crew. 
Bubble dreams that never shall come true 
Stir into the brew. 

As the last two lines are being chanted, As- 
TRiD bends over and scratches her shrivelled 
breast with her talons till black blood trickles 
into the mess. Then she stirs it with the long 
spoon and sips it critically. 



mir0tin 39 



AsTRiD. Your name is — 

KiRSTiN. Kirstin. 

AsTRiD [laugliing shnlly^ Kirstin, Kirstin. 

\^Still laughing to herself^ Astrid hends to 
her task, watching the mixture, and at last 
pours some of it from the black spoon into a 
phial and holds it to the firelight, then close to 
Kirstin's ei/es.l 
What do you see? 

Kirstin. A liquor pure and white. 

Astrid. This tiny vase of crystal in my 
hand 
Holds the quintessence of humanity. 
You love some human being in the world? 

Kirstin. Do I love Osgod? I saved him 
from the sea. 

Astrid. Who is this Osgod? [Kirstin is 
silent.'] 

Tell me. 

Kirstin. No. 

Astrid. You must. 

Kirstin \_after a long pause'] 
When first into thin air I raised my head, 
The sun was riding high above the sea 
In rosy clouds. Beside me stood a ship, 
With sailors, and one clad with majesty 
Whom they called Osgod. While I gazed, a 

storm 
Darkened the sun, and all the sea was dark, 



40 ffiiir0titt 



Purple the billoAvs broke against the sky ; 
But when I sang, the troubled waters fell, 
And past me in the wreckage of the ship 
Floated a drowning man with Osgod's face. 
My arms were underneath him, and his head 
Lay heavy on my breast. With a leap of the 

heart 
As when through the dim sea I darted upward 
Into the world, I seemed to rise again 
Through that clear deep of air to a world be- 
yond. 
And I began to sing. 

AsTRiD. A deep-sea song? 

KiRSTiN. No, a new song. 

AsTRiD. Sing it to me. 

[KiRSTiN shudders.^ You must. 
KiRSTiN [reluctantly at first, then forgetting 
Astrid's presence^ 



SONG 

Death came over the sea, 
Chill and white of breath, 
Only to veer and flee, 
Ghostly over the sea. 
One strong as Death. 

Out of my world I rise, 
If this be I, 



mt^tin 41 



For gazing in thine eyes 
To a new world I rise, 
Never to die. 

AsTRiD. And still you bore your burden ? 

KiRSTiN. When my strength 

Was almost gone, there was the land at last. 
I laid him on the sand — a tiny pulse 
Fluttered within his bosom ; but suddenly 
The thin air stifled me ; I grew aware 
Of beings not like us, who bade me backward 
To mine own element. Veiling my face 
With foam, I watched at the sea's edge and 
saw — 

AsTRiD. What dreadful thing? 

KiRSTiN. A maiden of their kind. 

AsTRiD. A human maiden — fearful to be- 
hold? 

KiRSTiN. No, she was fairer than aught be- 
neath the sea. 

AsTRiD. But fairer how? 

KiRSTiN. She had a lovely face. 

All white and rosy color. 

AsTRiD [asidel So have you. 

KiRSTiN. And ropes of silken hair as bright 
as gold. 

AsTRiD [aside^ Gold hair have you. 

KiRSTiN. Clad in a long white garment, 

She came and knelt beside him on the shore — ■ 



fiiitstitt 



Then in my heart I felt a spark of fire 
Blaze up and burn me ; I grew hot with hate, 
And dashed upon my breast the cold, salt spray. 

AsTRiD \_leering aside^ She loves this Osgod. 

KiRSTiN. Other women came, 

And helping one another bore his body 
Back where their temple glittered through the 
green. 

AsTRiD. And is that all? 

KiRSTiN. 'Tis all. What must I do? 

AsTRiD. Depart to Elfrood shore where Os- 
god dwells. 
And sip the phial thrice, so shall you sleep. 
When you awaken, rise and leave the sea. 
You shall be cleft asunder by a pain 
More piercing than a knife, and thus be made 
A child of earth with light and graceful 

tread. 
But every footstep that you take shall cost 
Anguish intolerable and prints of blood 
As if you trod upon a naked sword. 

KiRSTiN {^shivering reaches for the phial^ 
Let me go home and rest before I start 
Upon my difficult quest. 

AsTRiD. No. 

KiRSTiN. See no more 

My father's mother and my sisters dear? 
I cannot bear it. 



lKir0tin 43 



[She covers her face with her hands. Enter 
Gerda, who moving silently to Kirstin, touches 
her on the shoulder. Kirstin starts up with a 
little cry and clasps Gerda close. 1^ 

Gerda. Child, your whole life long 

Have I lain close beside you in the night, 
Aware of it if you but stirred or sighed. 
To-night so weary was I, grown so old, 
I only woke to find the empty place, 
And followed after you. 

Kirstin. Through perils dire, 

Dear Gerda — 

AsTRiD. Madam, you have been before 
My guest. 

Gerda. Yes, Astrid, years and years ago. 
You meant to curse me, but the charm you gave 
I cast away. 

Astrid [ironically'] To wed a bold merking 
And tend his children, else yourself had been 
One with the human beings overhead. 

Kirstin. So you suspected whither I had 

come. 
Gerda. And hurried here to save you from 
your fate. 
Sigrid was anxious too, and could not rest. 
She waits for our return. 

Kirstin. Sweet sister Sigrid! 

O Gerda, lead me back, and I'll not flee 



44 Clit0tin 



Your side again. Take breath, dear heart, and 

rest. 
Ere we begin our journey. 

Gerda. Dear, I knew 

The strange, wild spell would leave you as of 

yore 
My little sea-child, dancing merry-hearted 
To sound of music on the golden sands. 

KiRSTiN. O how I long once more with my 
sweet sisters 
To share that life. 

AsTRiD [suddenly darting forward'] 
But, Kirstin, 3^ou with sudden start 
Shall feel from out that arch of sky so hollow 
The large air of the world blown keen and 

strange 
Into your heart 
And something bid you follow. 

Gerda. Child, it shall bring you pain, 
So shun it. 

AsTRiD. Shun it not. The very pain 
It brings you is a kind of joy and gain. 

Gerda. My child shall have instead sea- 
pleasures all. 

AsTRiD. On you shall pleasure pall 
When you recall 
That you must leave behind 
Mirth, feasting, music, all 
Your life, frailer than foam upon the wind. 



I^it0tin 45 



Gerda. Child, she hath cast on you an evil 
spell, 
This horrid hag of hell. 

KiRSTiN. Nay, Gerda, 'tis the spell of things 
above 
The sea. 

Gerda. O darling Kirstin, if my love, 
Deep as a mother's love, hath weight with you, 
Resist this fascination. 'Tis a lure 
That calls a maiden by cold and lonely ways 
Forth to a lot barren and comfortless. 
Here is the love that clings to bind you fast 
By all sweet ties dear to a woman's heart, 
My love, the love of — 

Enter Erik. 

Kirstin [^turns and sees him'] Erik — 

Erik. Here am I. 

Kirstin. I called you not. O Erik, how 
the world 
Seems vast and lonely ; like an alien 
Should I go wandering, and who would reck 
In that thin air, my immortality. 

Erik. Then, Kirstin, only place your hand 
in mine — 
My love shall be your shelter. Forevermore 
Nothing can come between us. 

AsTRiD. Nothing between? 
Nay, there shall come between 
Voice of the world so keen. 



46 ffilirgtin 



At night when groom and bride 
Lie silent, side by side, 
That call without a word 
Shall sunder as a sword. 

She makes a downward gesture. 

KiRSTiN. But what if I deny 
That voice and stand with Erik? 

AsTRiD. You shall hear 

A voice he hears not, calling like a bell 
Desires that mock the heart if once denied. 

KiRSTiN. But even this were better than 
that cold, 
High fate to live unloved and comfortless. 

AsTRiD. Have you forgotten Osgod.^^ Side 
by side 
The lover and his bride 
Shall hear that music high, 
A bell, calling their spirits to the sky. 

Erik. Osgod? 

Gerda. Kirstin, Kirstin. 

My own, you will not listen to the words 
Of this foul hag, when one who loves you well — 

AsTRiD [fiercely^ Silence. 
Enter Thora. 

Kirstin. Erik and Gerda, say no more, 
For now the way is plain. 

Erik. Nay, in love's name 

One little word — what can this Osgod give 
More than the sea-kings.? 



mir0tin 47 



KiRSTiN. An immortal soul. 

O Gerda, Gerda. [Throwing her arms about 
Gerda's neck.] 
AsTRiD [tahhig the phial from Erik, and 
pouring its contents into the one which 
she herself holds] 

Hist, your turn shall come. 
Thora [pressing forward] 
But Erik, I— 

Erik. You ! 

Thora [taki7ig a step in the direction of KiR- 
stin] 

Sea-shape, may your love 
Be spurned one day as mine is. 

AsTRiD [taking from Thora the phial which 
she holds and pouring its contents into 
the 07i€ which is in her own hand] 
Patience, this 
Will take her sweetest song. 

KiRSTiN. Farewell, farewell. 

My choice is made. 

She goes apart from the others, and stands 
erect with face averted and hands clasped, to 
avoid the pain of parting. Exit Gerda, then 
Thora, and finally Erik. 

AsTRiD [after a long pause] But what if 
you should fail 
To win your princeling, Kirstin? 



48 ffiiir0tin 



KiRSTiN [facing about and taking a step for- 
ward in surprise'] 

Fail! Should fail 
To win him? Will a little love avail? 

AsTRiD. If to win his heart you fail, 
Nothing, nothing can avail, — 
His whole heart, grown dearer far 
Than all other loved ones are. 
By the priest you must be wed — 
Should another maid instead 
Be his choice, upon the morrow 
Shall you taste of sorrow : 
When the sky with dawn grows red 
To your mermaid end you come, 
Back unto the ocean foam. 

KiKSTiN [reaching for the phial~\ 
I would venture. 

AsTRiD. Hold, my fee. 

Shouldn't something come to me? 
I will take — 

KiRSTiN. Oh, do not speak; 

I should be defenceless, weak. 
With song whereby the sea-kings were enrap- 
tured 
A man's heart might be captured; 
I cannot give my voice. 

AsTRiD. I gave my blood. 

Where's your grace, your lovely eyes? 
Surely they can catch a prize. 



Mtmin 49 



Don't be niggardly, your voice 
Keep, but unto me belongs 
Now and then one of your songs — 
Say just one, your sweetest song. 

KiRSTiN. I do not know 

Which is my sweetest song. 

AsTRiD. Then I will choose. 

KiRSTiN. Is there no other way? 

AsTRiD. No other way. 

\^She beckons Kirstin nearer, and after mak- 
ing a sign upon her lips hands her the phial. 
Then pointing to the golden sword suspended 
on the wall, she goes and takes it down.~\ 
Kirstin, from my precious hoard 
Take the magic sword. 

Kirstin. Sword.? I shall not need a sword. 

AsTRiD. You will need it, on my word. 
Read the line thereon engraved : 

[^Offers it to Kirstin] 

Kirstin [wondering~\ '*With this sword my 
life I saved." 

[Hands it bach'l 

AsTRiD [crossl?/] Farewell, farewell. 

[Ea^it Kirstin bearing the phial. Astrid, 
alone, reads again the words on the sword :'\ 
"With this sword my life I saved." 
Once I was like to you. A foolish quest 
Like yours has made me what I am. Farewell. 

[The last two lilies are repeated with the ef- 



50 »ir0tin 



feet of an echo by the misshapen creatures hid- 
ing in the shadows outside the circle of firelight. 
The flame under the cauldron flickers and al- 
most dies out, then flares up again. The zvitch 
bursts into horrible laughter.^ 
Now, Kirs tin, win yourself if win you can, 
The love of Osgod, and an immortal soul. 

\_She hobbles to the smoking pot and vin- 
dictively stirs the contents with the point of 
her golden sword, chanting:'] 

Stir into the brew, 

Hopes, a rainbow-colored bubble crew, 
Bubble dreams that never shall come true, 
Stir into the brew, 

CURTAIN 



ACT III 
TABLEAU III 

Audience Hall of Dagmar's Palace in the 
World Above 



The place is lofty and dignified in aspect. 
About two-thirds of the distance across the 
stage to the left are three tall pillars, beyond 
•which lies a terrace with steps leading dotvn to 
the sea, which is plainly visible. Near the cen- 
ter of the right wall a wide door gives entrance 
to the rest of the palace except a tower in 
which are the apartments of Dagmar and of Os- 
god. This tower is reached by way of the ter- 
race, which is continued around the rear of the 
hall so that a person passing to the tower can 
be seen through a deep window in the back- 
ground. The canopy and hangings of the hall, 
the cushions of benches and throne are of rich 
velvet, producing an effect of warmth and color 
in strong contrast with the marble or alabaster 
of the columns and the cool blue of sea and sky. 
The time is afternoon, about a month having 

elapsed since the preceding act. 
51 



52 ffiiit0tin 



The Lord High Chamberlain is discovered 
'placing a drapery of black on the chair of state. 
From the shore hurriedly enters a sailor roughly 
dressed. 

Sailor [breathless] Audience with her maj- 
esty I crave. 

Chamberlain [ironically'] In sorest ur- 
gency and haste. 

Sailor. I bring 

Good tidings that shall make your present toil 
Useless. 

Chamberlain. Pray then, reveal them! 

Sailor. To the queen. 

Chamberlain. The queen! The queen is 
inaccessible. 
Immured within the tower hath she sent 
Couriers far and wide to scour the sea — 

Sailor. Who bring? 

Chamberlain. Mere rumors till the queen 
refuses. 
Rumors that still knock at the palace gate. 

Sailor. No idle tale is mine, but come so 
straight 
That all can be attested. 
My brother sails upon a fishing boat 
To northern shoals. A month ago the storm 
That wrecked Prince Osgod in his pleasure boat 
Disabled them, and he has just returned 
In time the second tempest to escape. 



mt^tin 53 



Upon a lonely island where they moored, 
Their rigging to repair, he learned that one 
Flung by the raging waters on the strand 
Found shelter in a convent and was now 
Returning to this kingdom. 

Chamberlain [^indifferently^ Shipwrecked 
men 
Are common, learns our heavy-hearted queen. 
Knowing too well the sea hath taken toll 
Of her own flesh and blood. The angry storm 
That swept the sleeping ocean yestere'en. 
So hke the first, brings back her first despair — 

Sailor. Conduct me to her presence. 
Three notes of the bugle are heard. 

Chamberlain. More than a month ago the 
triple horn 
Summoned the court to speed our blessed prince 
Upon his pleasure-voyage, and to-night. 
Our courtiers for the first time reassembled 
Since that ill-fated hour shall meet to hear 
Mourning proclaimed throughout the kingdom. 

Hark, 
Here comes the queen. Forbear to trouble her. 

Through the window in the hackground Dag- 
mar is seen. Exeunt Chamberlain and Sailor. 
Enter Queen hy terrace. 

Dagmar [gazing out over the water'] 
No sail upon the sea, ah God, no sail ! 
Mine eyes are weary watching for a sail. 



54 »ir0tin 



Last night I lay with casement open wide 
And saw the swollen sea, moon-lighted, calm, 
Clean after shipwreck, till I swooned asleep 
And woke dry-eyed, still watching for a sail, 
His sail that comes not. Sharper than the 

throes 
In time of travail are these bitter pains 
That bear no fruit. O my beloved son. 
Dearer to me than mine own flesh and blood, 
I can contend no more — so many days. 
So many weary nights have come and gone, 
As silent as the grave save when I hear 
Echoes that haunt the chambers of my brain, 
His footstep and his call — 

[Seating herself on one of the benches, she 
covers her eyes with her hands. Tzvo men, the 
one old, the other young, both shabby and 
travel-worn, their garments stained with brine, 
ascend the steps, and entering through the por- 
tico, stand silently before her. Dagmar listens 
intently, then uncovers her eyes.~\ 

Can it indeed 
Be he I mourn for, not a phantom shape 
Of mine own thought.? 

[Rising, she comes nearer and lays her hands 
upon the youth.'] 

It is my child, my son 
Osgod. 

OsGOD. O mother! 



mmin 55 



Dagmar Not a lineament 

Is changed. Lo, lip and forehead, brow and 

eye, 
The same, almost the same. 

Enter the Sailor, followed hy the protesting 
Chamberlain. 

Sailor. There stands the prince 

[Chamberlain falls back in astonishment,'] 
To prove my message not a rumor vain. 
Were you not cast upon a rocky isle 
And sheltered in a convent? 

OsGOD. You speak timth, 

Sailor, for here am I. This ancient man 
Is keeper of the convent. 

Sailor. Your majesty, 

I did but seek an audience, to bring 
Tidings to turn your sorrow into joy. 
My brother, coming from a northern cruise — 
Each year he journeys to the fishing shoals — 
Learned that a man flung on a rocky isle 
Found shelter in a convent and was now 
Returning here. 

[Addressing Chamberlain] 

Was that an idle tale? 

Keeper. The keeper of the convent, have 
I come 
To bring Prince Osgod back. 

Sailor. The storm last night 

How did you weather? 



56 l^it^tin 



OsGOD. In a quiet bay 

Whose arm shut out the sea. 

Keeper. Upon our strand 

We found him flung by breakers as one dead. 
Chamberlain. Your vessel drove upon a 

hidden reef? 
OsGOD. No, we were far out when the storm 
descended — 
Gone are my gallant mariners, my ship, 
All, all are gone. 

Chamberlain. How did you reach the 

shore ? 
OsGOD. I know not. From that moment 
all was dark. 
Half-stunned, I seemed to sink in perfect peace, 
Knowing that life was ended, then the sea 
Had arms beneath and a soft breast that bore 

me 
Out of the storm and darkness ; nor should I 
Be standing here but for the gentle nuns 
Who nursed me back to life. 

Dagmar [stripping off jewels from throat 
and wrist s~\ 

Take these, and these, 
To show the nuns my gratitude. 

Keeper. Our needs 

Are few, yet do we know of needier. 
For them I take your gift. 



I^it0tin 57 



Dagmar And to this man 

Who brought good tidings give a purse of gold. 
Now bid them be refreshed. In banquet hall 
Order a feast prepared. 

Keeper. I must depart 

Without delay. 

Sailor. And I. 

Exeunt old man and Sailor, also Chamber- 
lain, who removes the drape of mourning from 
the chair of state. 

Dagmar. Osgod, my heart, 

Grown great with sorrow, now gives room to 

joy 

Still greater, but those days of bitterness 
That brought my spirit face to face with death 
Have shown me too what life means, yours and 

mine, 
All human life abiding but a span — 
I would that we might live a thousand years. 
With all my mother's heart I yearned for you. 
Yet in my anguish aye remembering 
My noble father, how he toiled and wrought 
To make his people happy, strong, secure. 
Then to the dust went down, entrusting me 
To carry on his kingdom, and the years. 
Gliding away as water from a glass. 
Are bringing me to the appointed change. 
Who now shall take the burden from my hands, 



58 l^it0tin 



Lifting the lofty task that I lay down, 
Who but my son, heir to the ancient throne, 
The noble spirit? 

OsGOD. Once would I have found 

Such sayings dark — to ride, to hunt, to sail, 
To follow problem-wise affairs of state 
Was all my care, but now, but now, a veil 
Has fallen from my vision, and I see 
Things hid before — the future like a dream 
Beckons to service for some high emprise. 
And in my bosom, glowing like a star, 
I feel the sense of immortality 
So strong that nothing seems impossible. 
What must I do? 

Dagmar [slowlt/, with her eyes on his face~\ 
First, Osgod, choose your queen. 
[R ending his look^ 
Her name, her birthright tell, her mien, her 

look. 
Dwelleth she in my kingdom or afar? 

Osgod [^dreamilyl^ The face, the face I can- 
not all forget 
Nor all remember — it was faintly seen 
O'er distances of dream as through a mist 
That with its revelation half conceals. 
Yet longed for as the moon is when a cloud 
Drifts o'er her loveliness. 

Dagmau. Ever were you 



mit0tin 59 



A dreamer of strange dreams. You cannot 

love 
That which you know so vaguely — some hand 
or face — 
OsGOD. I should not know her by the hand 
or face, 
Not loving her for these ; but when she sang 
I felt her spirit throbbing through the words 
And mine went forth to meet it. Were I dead 
And turned to dust, I should awake and rise 
If that voice called me. 

Dagmar. Know her by the voice? 

OsGOD. Voice tells the soul. 

l^Three trumpet notes sound again.J 

'Tis the horn 
That bids the court assemble! 

Dagmar. You have come 

To turn our morning to a festival. 
Join us ere long in the great banquet hall. 

[OsGOD conducts her to chair of state. Exit 
to tower by xvay of the terrace. '\ 
Some mystic being this, born of a dream 
Delirious. Madness it is — or love. 

[From the right enter courtiers. 1 
Ye noble knights and ladies of my court, 
Learn how our bitterness gives way to joy — 
Osgod is saved. 

[Cheering loud and prolong ed'\ 



60 ffiiit^tin 



His vessel gone, his sailors in the sea — 

God rest the faithful souls he summoned home; 

Through all the land shall mass for them be 

said 
And never let their households come to want — 
Heaven has restored him for the kingdom's 

weal. 
Osgod is here. 

[Great excitement and cheeringl 

As Heaven hath been bountiful to me 
In giving back my son, so let this hand 
Be bountiful ; first to the convent where 
They nursed him back to life. 

To each and all my nobles do I make 
A gift of gold and land. If there be one 
Indebted to the crown, that debt shall be 
Remitted. Whosoever hath done wrong 
Against the crown, likewise his penalty 
Shall be remitted. 

And since our prince, though flung a castaway 
Upon a foreign coast, yet did not lack 
For gentle ministration in his need, 
Let one cast on our shore, though alien. 
Fare with us as he fared. 

Applause, interrupted by the entrance of a 
courier from the shore, leading hy the hand 



»ir0tin 61 



the timid figure of Kirstin, clothed in wet 
weeds and grasses, with trailing hair. He ad- 
vances to tJie dais and with a gesture presents 
her to the queen. 

Courier. Your majesty, 

Behold the gift of the sea. 

Dagmar. a castaway. 

Lo, Heaven hath heard the vow I made to- 
night. 
And calls me to fulfil the pledge I gave. 
'Twas a wild storm that dashed upon our shore 
This helpless child. Go bid my tiring-women 
Give her a silken garb and loose her hair 
As our court damsels do. 

[The Queen with a gesture has entrusted 
Kirstin to one of the ladies-in-waiting. Ex- 
eunt. '\ 

Whence had she come 
And where were her companions? 

Courier. I could learn 

Nothing save that her kindred suffered death 
By shipwreck, for she called herself alone 
In the great world. 

Voice. What loveliness and grace ! 

Voice. How innocent a look! 

Voice. Her beauty moves me 

Like music o'er the moonlit sea. 

Voice. My heart 

Was touched to think of her calamity. 



62 l^it0tin 



She stood there, timid as a child but yet 
With something of the woman. 

Voice. Beautiful. 

Voice. Yes, rarely beautiful, but with a 
look 
Such as I never saw, for something lacked, — 
I know not what. 

Voice. 'Twas as you often see 

Faces of children, or of those who lie 
In tranced sleep. 

Fanfare of trumpets is heard, and from the 
shore enters a trumpeter followed by six 
standard bearers forming a double column. 
They advance toward the throne and the cour- 
tiers part to give them place. Their banners 
bear the device of a raven, black on a field of 
azure. The double column divides to form an 
avenue down which advances a legate dressed 
in black and azure, bearing in his hand a letter 
with a silver seal. He kneels at the foot of the 
throne and rising speaks: 

Legate. Greeting, your majesty. 

From Solmund whom Dagmar congratulates 
On Osgod's rescue. Peace and length of days 
Forevermore be to this noble house. 

Dagmar. But whence had Solmund tidings 
of my son.-^ 

Legate. Inga, of late returning from the 
north, 



mmin 63 



Brought the glad news of his deliverance. 
And Solmund, with a greeting to your prince, 
Osgod, would have him come to celebrate 
The birthday banquet on next Woden's day 
When Inga comes of age. To Osgod's hands 
This missive must I give. 

Dagmar. Ere you return, 

Thanks fitting Solmund's royal courtesy 
Shall be inscribed in letters of fine gold. 

[Turning to the courier'] 
Conduct him to the tower and these men 
Delaying here shall duly be refreshed 
When Osgod joins us in the banquet hall. 

[Exit Legate to the tower, conducted hy 
the courier who led in Kirstin. Through the 
door to the right, ushered hy serving women, 
one on either side, enter Kirstin, dressed in 
white with a golden cord at the waist and her 
golden hair hound high in a coronet. In her 
hand she hears a red rose. Mo'cing forward 
shyly, she hesitates, then throws herself at the 
feet of the Queen, who commands her to rise.] 
Child, what shall I call you? 

Kirstin. My name is Kirstin. 

Dagmar. Dear little Kirstin, 'tis a cruel 
fate 
That brought you hither ; be not anxious, child, 
For we have welcomed you into our hearts. 
Among my maids of honor take your place. 



64 mimin 



l^The ladies-in-waiting make room for her in 
their midst.'] 

Now shall the hour be given to merrymaking, 
For we have ample reason to rejoice. 
Music comes first — yea, a thanksgiving song 
From our sweet singer. 

Voice. Daarte, your majesty, 

Was ill, and could not come. 

KiRSTiN [rising eagerly] Oh, let me sing. 
I long to sing before you. 

[Standing before the Queen she forgets 
everything hut the power of her speU through 
song and the desire to please one who has re- 
ceived her so kindly. The eyes of all are fixed 
upon her as she begins to sing in a voice of ex~ 
quisite purity:] 

IF I MAY NOT HAVE THE ROSE 

If I may not have the rose 
That within the garden grows, 
Human-hearted, perfect, red. 
What is anything instead? 
Other beauty though there be. 
Do not offer it to me — 
Nothing in the garden grows 
If I may not have the rose. 

If I may not have thy love, 
All I seek below, above, 



mt^tin 65 



In that perfect heart of thine, 
Oh, what poverty is mine ! 
To my passion be thou cold, 
Vain is all the skies enfold. 
Everything below, above. 
If I may not have thy love. 

They stand charmed hy the sweetness of her 
song. As she takes her seat again, enter Os- 
GOD and the Legate. At sight of him, the 
whole court applaud. 

OsGOD. This life saved from the sea I dedi- 
cate 
To welfare of the kingdom, studying 
The highest good of all. [Applause^ 

Though I am loath 
So soon this birthday banquet to attend. 
Since Solmund was my father's firm ally. 
Knit fast to him by loyalty and love, 
I will accept. 

Legate. To grace her festival 

Six maids of honor Inga prays you send. 

Dagmar. Five I appoint in order of their 
rank. 
The sixth one shall be Kirstin. 

One after one they rise in acknowledgment of 
the honor till Kirstin finally stands. 

OsGOD [gazing at Kirstin in amazement^ 

Who is Kirstin.? 



66 mt$tin 



Dagmar. Osgod, to-night in presence of 
the court 
I made this vow to Heaven. 

Since our prince, 
Though flung a castaway on a strange isle, 
For kindly ministration did not lack, 
Let one cast by the tempest on our strand 
Fare with us as he fared. Scarce had I ceased 
When from the terrace came a courier 
Leading this child, the weeds that covered her 
All dripping from the brine. If I be judge, 
She is a princess rescued from the storm 
That stole away her kin. I welcomed her 
Into our hearts, giving her place among 
My maids of honor, the noblest of the land. 
Behold the gift of the sea. [Enter Chamber- 
lain.] 

Chamberlain. All is prepared. 

Dagmar [mm^] Kirstin, attend me to the 
banquet hall. 

Kirstin steps toward Dagmar. Osgod, 
swiftly moving forward, addresses low words 
to Dagmar, who communicates them to Kir- 
stin. The latter remains where she is stand- 
ing while Dagmar and the various personages 
of her court, accompanied hy the Legate and 
retinue from the court of Solmund, exeunt to 
the right. Osgod is left alone with Kirstin, 
who stands modestly looking down. 



mt^tin 67 



OsGOD. A vision oft appears to me at night, 
And thou art like that vision. I behold 
A maiden clothed about with mystery, 
Smiling upon me faintly as I sleep. 
'Tis my beloved standing silently — 
Her pure face dawning from an angry sky, 
The voice, the voice that called my spirit back 
Frustating Death. Child of the sea, art thou 
The one.^^ Oh, tell me so. 

KiRSTiN. How wilt thou know 

That I am thy beloved one.? This hand 
Dost thou remember.'' 

Gives him her hand, which he Kisses. 

OsGOD. 

Not by her hand or features. 
Not by her glance or mien. 
Not by her speech or silence 
Shall she be known, my queen. 

But by her lovely spirit. 
In song, in song outpoured, 
Whereby my soul escaping 
From Death, to Heaven soared. 

Were I asleep, or lying 

Dead under marble skies. 

If that dear voice should call me, 

I would awake and rise. 



68 iSiit0tin 



KiRSTiN. Then song shall be the test? 

OsGOD. The test be song. 

He stands gazing at Kirstin, who meets his 
yearning eyes with a look of joy. Her breast 
rises and falls hut no sound comes from her 
lips. After a long pause the silence becomes 
tense. She covers her face with her hands, and 
a long shudder passes over her frame. Os- 
GOD, profoundly disappointed, starts to follow 
the company to the banquet hall. 

Alas, she cannot sing! 
Ea:it Osgod. 

CURTAIN 

Curtain, rising, shows Kirstin painfully 
dragging herself down the steps of the terrace 
as if she trod upon a naked sword. Unloosing 
her sandals, she bathes her aching feet in the 
sea. A sound of singing comes faintly over the 
water in the twilight, and the golden heads of 
her sisters are visible. 

SONG OF THE SEA-NYMPHS 

Come home, come home. 

Flee where the laughing water laves 

A hundred hidden caves. 

Lightly will we dance and roam 



mmin 69 



Over the purple waves 

And the moon-paved paths of foam. 

Softly, softly in our ears 

Will the deep sea sing with never a word, 

And the water kiss our faces, 

As we go gliding, gliding down to the dim, deep 

places. 
Away from the pitiless sun and the parching air, 
Away from the shard and the cruel sword. 
Come, be washed clean of all desire and pain, 
Then forth again 
Over the fields of wind and foam 
With never a woe or care. 
To dance and sing for a thousand years. 
Then melt away and return to foam. 
Over the purple sea forevermore to roam. 
Come home, come home. 

[Now they are close at hand, calling'] 
Kirstin, Kirstin. 
KiRSTiN. Sweet sisters, O what joy to hear 
you speak. 
Alas, that you have found me wan and weak ! 
Erlhild. Oh, say that in your heart there 
is no change — 
Do you still love us? For your look is 
strange. 
Kirstin. Your sister still am I, though not 
the same 
As in those happy days before I came 



70 mit0tin 



Where human beings live ; even as they, 
I struggle, struggle on an upward way. 

GuDRiD. And is the heart of man beyond 

your spell? 
The mighty sea-kings, Kirstin, loved you well. 
Ever doth deep-sea Erik dwell alone, 
Waiting for you upon his golden throne 
With calm, contented heart. Have you no 

care 
For constancy? 

Kirstin. Alas, I cannot share 

The calm of one who knows a day will come 
When he must melt into the ocean foam. 
Nay, on a human bosom let me lean. 
Urged, if it need be, by compulsion keen 
To knowledge that is sorrow, so it be 
The only price of immortality. 

Ingeborg. But why should thy unhappy 

sisters know 
Sorrow as well as thou? Great is the blow 
Descended on our house. From morn to morn 
Our father grieves after his youngest born. 
And none of us may soothe his trouble. She 
Who tended thee in helpless infancy 
Is melancholy grown. O sister dear. 
What ruin hast thou wrought ! 

Kirstin. Oh, for one tear — 

But one of the salt drops that bring relief 
To human hearts o'ercharged with bitter grief! 



mimitt 71 



Would ye could know, my sisters, how I yearn 
To comfort ye. 

All. Return to us, return ! 

KiRSTiN. To-night so near the prize I 
seemed to stand 
That I could reach and take it in my hand 
As one might pluck a flower. 

SiGRiD. Ah, but the flowers. 

Or such as grow in these unhappy bowers, 
Fade in the sun or wither at a touch. 
The blossoms of our garden are not such. 
They still bloom on unharmed by frost or heat, 
Imperishably fair. 

KiRSTiN. One little, sweet. 

Quick-fading flower of earth is more to me 
Than all the scentless blossoms of the sea. 

Sisters depart^ sorrowfully singing. 

SONG OF THE SEA-NYMPHS 

Come home, come home. 

Away from the pitiless sun and the parching 

air. 
Away from the shard and the cruel sword. 
Come be washed clean of all desire and pain. 
Then forth again 
Over the fields of wind and foam 
With never a woe or care 
To dance and sing for a thousand years — 



72 mir0tin 



[KiRSTiN adds'] 
Then melt away and return to foam — 

[They continue] 
Over the purple sea forevermore to roam, 
Come home, come home. 

KiRSTiN sits listening with howed head as the 
last notes are lost in the distance. Then 'put- 
ting on her sandals, with the -firm tread of a 
being full of conscious energy and will she 
mounts the steps to the terrace, crosses the 
stage, and makes her exit to the right. 

CURTAIN 



ACT IV 

TABLEAU IV 
Pleasure Boat of Osgod 



The stage represents the forward end of the 
deck intersected by the footlights, toward 
which it extends in a slightly oblique direction. 
Down the stage a little to the right of the cen- 
ter, spars and rigging divide the space into two 
promenades, meeting somewhere near the bow, 
which is suggested in the obscure background. 
In front of the spars is the royal pavilion of 
gold and purple, the other apartments lying 
toward the bow in the direction indicated by 
the promenades. To the right, up the stage, 
the shore is reached by a gangway which is not 
visible. To the left is the deck rail with a low 
seat extending beneath, and still farther to the 
left the ocean itself, with the sky above. 

Several days have elapsed since the events 

of the act preceding. The time is late evening 

during the celebration of Inga's birthday. 

The foreground is well but not brilliantly 

lighted by lanterns, and later by blight but fit- 
73 



74 lBiir0tin 



ful moonlight. Finally the shy begins to red- 
den and the action closes at daybreak. 



At the rising of the curtain^ two of the maids 
of honor frora Dagmar's court are searching for 

KiRSTIN. 

First Maid of Honor. Where can she be? 

Second. Have we not searched the ship 

From stem to stern? 

First. She's vanished utterly. 

Second. There's nowhere to seek further. 

First. And ashore 

Has no one seen her. 

Second. No, she lagged behind, 

Nor joined us when we reached the banquet 

hall. 
Nor sat down at the banquet. 

First. Osgod sent 

Myself to bring her. 

Second. Then appointed me. 

Scarce could he brook to go alone and greet 
Solmund the king in his great hall of state. 
For want of her. 'Tis she has wit to soothe 
His weariness. 

First. And she has counsels wise 

When broods his thought over the kingdom's 

weal. 
The favorite is she, by all beloved; 
Yet none could envy her. 



mmin 75 



They utter startled cries, as a head suddenly 
appears over the right side of the boat and 
KiRSTiN lightly vaults upon the deck. She is 
dressed in some darh fabric, a close, sea-colored 
garment reaching just below the knee which em- 
phasizes her slender grace, and a mist-like scarf, 
vague as an exhalation, flutters backward from 
her shoulder. She stands before the ladies of 
the court, a spirit of the sea incarnate, all vital- 
ity and beauty. 

Second. Where have you been? 

First. And why did you desert us.'' 

KiRSTiN. Chide me not. 

All day I hungered for the open sea, 
Pent by the stifling space, the narrow deck. 
Parched by the hot, bright sunshine and the 

wind. 
At twilight, when great stars hung in the tide, 
I left it all behind me for a plunge 
Straight down into the ocean silver cool, 
Singing around as the big bubbles rise. 
Mile after mile I swam beside the fishes 
Over the infinite paths of ease and joy, 
And come back new-made. 

They stare at her, amazed at her strange 
words and manner. 

First. Without weariness.? 

KiRSTiN [laughingly 
Weary are they who walk with stumbling feet 



76 mtStitt 



O'er the world's flint. 

Second. From Osgod am I sent 

To bid you go ashore and sit with him 
At Inga's board. 

First. See, he could not endure 

This long delay. 

Enter Osgod, who stops and regards Kirstin 
in wonder. Exeunt maids of honor. 

Osgod [putting his hand to his hrow'] 

Whence comes that memory 
Of one who plucked me from a raging sea, — 
And I was borne upon a tender breast 
Out of the storm and darkness. 

Kirstin [tremhlingl You remember 

That night? 

Osgod. My soul, uplifted by a song, 

Escaped from bondage to a world more high. 
The echo of that song again I hear. 
But all the world is musical to-night, — 
Oh, listen, Kirstin, life is wonderful ! 
The thing we will with all our heart and soul 
And never cease to will, is close at hand 
When it appears remotest. 

Kirstin [zmth her hand trying to quiet her 
struggling hearty 

Can it he? 
To-night, this very night? 

Osgod. To-night. Once, Kirstin, 

My inmost heart I showed you as a page 



IRir0tltt 77 



To read, how Love and Death came hand in 

hand, 
Inspiring me to use in service high 
Life's earthly years that ever glide away. 
The call to kingship haunts me and compels, 
Yet lacking love, how poor my life and cold. 
But suddenly has Heaven crowned the yearning 
With revelation of my well-beloved 
Who saved me from the sea. 

KiRSTiN moves toward him with face trans- 
figured. Enter Inga, tall, fair, and queenly, 
wearing the bridal wreath and veil. Osgod 
starts forward, and placing Inga's hand on his 
arm, they stand face to face with Kirstin, who 
looks from one to the other, 

Kirstin. The nun, the nun 

Who found you on the shore! 

Inga. No, not a nun, 

But in the convent for a time I tarried. 
Taught by the sisters who gave gentle care 
To motherless maidens. 

Kirstin. And you knew her by — 

Osgod. This jewelled signet ring upon the 
hand 
That smoothed my pillow. — ^We have suffered 

long 
Hunger and thirst of the heart, so let this 
night 



78 mtstin 



Witness love's consummation. Will you go 
Straight with me to the altar? 

Inga. I have donned 

My mother's veil and gown and come to ask 
That when we stand before the priest to speak 
Our marriage vows, you who have grown so 

dear 
To Osgod, yea, whom I already love 
Will stand beside me, — sister have I none. 

KiRSTiN [with effort^ 
'Tis a great honor by your side to stand, 
Too great an honor. 

Inga. Not for sake of honor, 

For that is nothing, but we brides would fain 
Have one we love to do us honor then. 
One w^ho is knit to us by special ties. 
As you are knit to me. 

[KiRSTiN stands white-lipped and silent.'] 
Refuse me not 
Upon my wedding night. 

Strains of music are heard. Kirstin, xvith 
a gesture of refusal, indicates the garment in 
which she has just come from the sea. Inga 
takes from her arm a long trailing cloak of silk 
which she throws over the shoulders of Kirstin, 
who is completely enveloped in its folds. With 
her own will overborne, she is led out hy Inga 
to the music of the march, which becomes more 
and more insistent, and Osgod follows. 



mitstfn 79 



Enter the two maids of honor, and three oth- 
ers from the banquet hall. 

Fifth Maid of Honor. A wedding march. 

Third. 'Tis said that to the chapel Osgod 
goes 
To wed King Solmund's daughter. 

Fourth. It was she 

Who nursed him back to hfe. 

Fifth. I, sitting near, 

Beheld his look of wonder, recognition. 
As when we mark a thing beyond belief. 

Second. How came she in the convent? 

Third. Motherless, 

King Solmund placed her in the sisters' care. 

Fourth. The music changes to a requiem ; 
Yea, 'tis death music. 

Second. Hath one passed from life.? 

First. The drumbeat weighs heavily on my 
heart. 

Third. That mournful cadence comes not 
from within, 
'Tis of the sea, the moaning of the tides. 

Fourth. An ocean dirge for one departed. 

[Covering her ears with her hands. '\ 

Oh, 

It stifles me. 

Fifth. And now the strain has changed 

Once more and all is joyful, light and free. 



80 lRir0tin 



Second. 'Tis a glad day that joins the 
kingdoms twain. 

First. Minor again the music alternates. 

Music, containing at first a mere suggestion 
of impending doom, continues alternately sad 
and joyful, rising to triumphant chords. En- 
ter KiRSTiN, erect, almost stately, in the long 
silken cloak, but she crosses the deck unstead- 
ily with trailing foot, and droops into a seat 
by the deck rail. The others hasten to sup- 
port her, chafing her hands and unclasping the 
cloak. 

Second. Poor child. 

First. It was that long swim in the sea. 

Enter Inga and Osgod in a crash of music. 
Inga, turning, throws flowers into the cheering 
company. 

Voices. Long live Inga. 

Long live Osgod. 

Long live Kirstin. 

Inga [to Osgod] To-morrow there will be 
great merrymaking 
Through all the land, but we shall be — 

Osgod. To-morrow, 

O word mysterious and magical. 
For does there live a man beneath the sun 
Who knows what strange or beautiful event 
The next day hath in store.? 



mmin 81 



KiRSTiN [to herself] To-morrow, to- 

morrow — 

Enter sailor, 
OsGOD [to sailor] Unfurl the sail and 
swing into the deep 

[Exit sailor.] 
That we may cut the world off, you and I, 
Hasting away from harshness and the din 
Of earth's too dry and dusty common ways 
To the great moving waters. 'Tis the hour 
When the moon bares her beauty to the deep 
And his heart is full. 

KiRSTiN [rising as if re-animated] 

On Osgod's wedding night, 
A night to be remembered all the years. 
There should be revelry, the maddest, merriest 
Of music. Who will join me in the dance 
In Inga's honor? 

Maids of Honor [in chorus] I. 

And I. 

And I. 
TheT/ dance together, forming a kaleido- 
scope of color and motion in the moonlight. 
One after another drops out. 
Fourth. I am too weary. 
Fifth. It is late. 

KiRSTiN. But I 

Could dance forever. 



Eitstin 



OsGOD [^impatient to he alone with Inga'\ 
That was beautiful. 

Inga. I thank you all. 

OsGOD. And now good-night. 

KiRSTiN. Good-night. 

Will you not kiss me both? 

TheT/ kiss her. Exit Kirstin. 

OsGOD. Inga, beloved, 

I long to hear you sing — a song of joy 
Such as you sang me in the temple white 
Beside the sea ; 'twas first for your sweet voice 
That I began to love you. 

Inga. Osgod, I 

Sing? Nay, I cannot sing. 

OsGOD. You cannot sing? 

It was that song which called me back from 

death 
To a new life. 

Inga. And would you know that song 

Again ? 

OsGOD. Were I asleep, yea, were I dead 
And turned to dust, I should awake and rise 
If that voice called me. 

Inga. Dear, it was some spell 

Of your delirium, and not my voice 
Who never sang. 

OsGOD. Your spirit spoke to mine 

As with a song, but now that I have you 
I have no need of music nor of words. 



mimin 



Pacing down the deck in the moonlight, they 
disappear in the background. The lanterns 
are extinguished hy sailors. In the fore- 
ground KiRSTiN, unable to rest, is heard softly 
and sorrowfully singing: 

IF I MAY NOT HAVE THE ROSE 

If I may not have the rose 
That within the garden grows, 
Human-hearted, perfect, red, 
What is anything instead? 
Other beauty though there be. 
Do not offer it to me. 
Nothing in the garden grows 
If I may not have the rose. 

If I may not have thy love, 
All I seek below, above. 
In that perfect heart of thine. 
Oh, what poverty is mine. 
To my passion be thou cold, 
Vain is all the skies enfold. 
Everything below, above. 
If I may not have thy love. 

The moon has gone under a cloud so that the 
figure of Kirstin is lost in the shadows. En- 
ter OsGOD and Inga. 



84 ffilir0tin 



OsGOD. Once did the starry sky, brooding 
aboA^e 
Old ocean's tide, oppress me and o'erwhelm, 
But now with thee, beloved, at my side, 
Strong is my sense of immortality. 

SONG OF IMMORTALITY 

Ancient roams the sea 
From hoary shore to shore, 
But the sea shall be no more. 

Lights that seons long 

In yon high dome have hung. 

Shall vanish like a song. 

Earth shall fade away 
From the undaunted soul, 
And heaven as a scroll. 

How late and dark — the very sea asleep. 
It is the hour when night ebbs into day. 
And life is at its lowest. Thou art weary. 
Let us to rest. O night so long desired! 
Exeunt to the royal 'pavilion. 
KiRSTiN. Oh, weary is the heart 
When it is nigh to breaking. 
But they who are immortal need to sleep. 
Not I who must depart. 
Ere dawn is on the deep, 



»ir0tin 85 



To sleep that knows no waking. 

But the utmost pang 

Of dissolution has no dread for me, 

Since standing by the priest I heard him vow 

To love her only, world without an end, 

For in that moment my astonished heart 

Closed on itself, anticipating death. 

And dizzily before my staring eyes. 

The world swam, a grey bubble. Even now 

A veil is on my vision when I look 

At the rare moon, yet as I close mine eyes 

It all comes back, the unutterable beauty 

Of cloud and sea, of hill and peopled town 

With little children in the streets — oh, all 

That moves us with the strange, sweet spell of 

things 
That were before we suffered, and will be 
When we have ceased to suffer — I am swayed 
By memories of childhood, and the sense 
Of motion and of calm: 
Sea-colors and sea-creatures, and the kind. 
Protecting hands of little sea-nymph sisters, 
And frolicsome hours together. O my father, 
So hoary wise to teach me hidden lore 
Of shells and flowers, and the strict guardian 

care 
Of my father's mother. Do they remember? 
And will they grieve to knov/ that I, who 

reached 



86 mirstin 



So far for life immortal, losing that, 
Am beggared utterly? When I am nothing. 
Still are they free to roam their thousand years 
In the fields of wind and foam. 

She stops and listens to a sound of singing 
heard faintly in the distance. 



SONG OF THE SEA-NYMPHS 

Come home, come home. 
For life was meant to be merry and free, 
Come dance in the fields of wind and foam 
Over the purple sea. 

Wilt thou leave us blind with pain. 
Whose eyes were never made for tears? 
Wilt thou bid us grieve in vain 
To the end of the thousand years? 

Flee from the peak so flinty hard, 
The pitiless sun and the parching air, 
Flee from the sword and the cruel shard 
To the liquid spiral stair. 

Echoes from the coral caves 
Over the fields of wind and foam, 
Voices of the little waves. 
Call, "Come home, come home." 



mmin 87 



The moon has gradually emerged from under 
the cloud, so that the shining heads of the sea- 
nymphs are visible as they support a great 
golden sword whose blade flashes in the moon- 
light. 

KiRSTiN [calling] Sigrld, Disa, Erlhild, In- 

geborg, Gudrid. 
SiGRiD. Dear little Kirstin, far from the 
mid-sea 
Thy pain and peril beckoned us to thee. 

Kirstin. O sisters .dear, so pale with fear 
and care, 
'Tis you indeed, but shorn of your long hair 
Bright as the sun. 

Ingeborg. From Astrid's dreadful cave 

We bring this magic sword your life to save. 
She would not yield it up for groan or prayer, 
But only if we gave our golden hair. 

Kirstin. Reft of your crown of beauty for 
my sake — 
What shall it profit me the sword to take? 
[Taking the sword.li 
Disa. Go plunge it in his heart, whose deeds 
and words 
Have pierced your heart more cruelly than 
swords. 
Kirstin. To slay him, Disa, cannot ease my 
pain — 
To foam must I return. 



88 lBtir0tin 



Erlhild. Nay, once again 

A daughter of the sea, may you fulfil 
Your thousand years — 

SiGRiD. If you will only spill 

His blood upon your feet. Oh, quickly prove 
Our magic sword of gold. 

KiRSTiN. How great the love 

Of mine own kin. 

GuDRiD. O sister dear, make haste, 

Precious the moments are that run to waste. 
So keenly does our father's mother mourn. 
That sharp distress her ancient locks hath 
shorn. 

Gerda appears. 

KiRSTiN. O Gerda, can it be your beauteous 
face 
I see again? 

Gerda. Child, from this cruel place 

Return, and once again with linked hands 
Circle to music on the golden sands. 
Where with your sisters five you sang of yore; 
Come be a merry sea-child as before. 

Ingeborg. The sky begins to redden — thou 
or he 
Must die before the dawn. 

All [departing] We wait for thee. 

KiRSTiN. What love have I been strong 
enough to win 
That shall abide, but love of mine own kin.'^ 



mir0tin 89 



EiiiK [^calling over the sea^ Kirstin, Kir- 
stin. 
Behold me, my beloved, come with speed 
Out of the deep, knowing that you have need 
Of Erik's love at last. 

Kirstin. Down on your throne 

How should you hear me, Erik, making moan? 

Erik. Far from the crash of tides that rise 
and fall, 
It was my heart, dear love, that heard your 
call. 

Kirstin. Thora, poor Thora. All that 
weight of woe 
On me hath fallen, for the curse I know. 
Heartbroken, doth she sit from all apart, 
Grieving ? 

Erik. Another king hath won her heart. 

Kirstin. I called you not. 

Erik. Then had I never come, 

Down to my deep-sea calm to bear you home. 

Kirstin. O blessed calm. 

Erik. Of what avail the strife, 

Of what avail the pain of human life? 

Kirstin. Yea, what avail? 

Erik. Beloved, put it by, 

The struggle after immortality. 
And be my bride. 

Kirstin. Erik, it cannot be. 

No more am I a daughter of the sea. 



90 mit0tin 



Now that the end draws nigh, to fulfil 
My thousand years of life. 

Erik. Dear Kirstin, still 

A single chance remains — do you not hold 
In your right hand the magic sword of gold 
From Astrid's cave? 

Kirstin. Alas, I cannot slay 

My well-beloved! 

Erik. Well-beloved? Nay. 

Who hath destroyed your soul, your love hath 

slain. 
Choose, Kirstin, once again, between us twain. 
Kirstin. Remember how I spurned your 
love and strove 
Only to gain a soul through Osgod's love; 
Desiring, to your passion deaf and blind, 
The immortality of humankind. 

Erik. If through my will, love, you could 
gain the sky, 
Lo, I would give you immortality. 
Down there, from never-resting motion release 
Waits where loud fury and the wind's havoc 

cease, 
At the very core of peace. 

Kirstin. Ah me, to choose ! I hang as on 
a brink. 
Depart and leave me here alone to think. 

[Exit Erik.] 
Ah me, to choose! Devotion strong to save 



I^imin 91 



Or love that is more cruel than the grave — 
Nay, Osgod, lying innocent of blame, 
Knows not my breath fades as a fading flame; 
Yet life is sweet and one of us must die 
Before the dawn — shall it be he or I? 

[The east is already crimson as she advances 
toxcard the door of the royal pavilion, holding 
the sword firmly uplifted.^ 
Now let the blow on Osgod quickly fall, 
I love thee not! 

[The arm suddenly wavers and drops to her 
side,'] Nay, love thee all in all. 

[Turning y she flings the sword far out over 
the waves, and throrvs herself into the sea to 
he changed to foam, singing:] 

Death came over the sea, 
Chill and white of breath. 
Only to veer and flee 
Ghostly over the sea 
One strong as Death. 

Enter Osgod in the rosy light. 
Osgod. The song, I hear the song! Oh, it 
was Kirstin 
Who saved me from the sea — you, only you 
Could make my dream reality. Beloved, 
I need you night and day, in life and death 



92 ffiitotin 



Forevermore. Flee not this earthly place 
So poor and cold without you. 

He stretches Ms arms toward her, hut she 
passes from his reach, rising higher and higher 
into the flaming sky with a look of joy inex- 
pressible, still singing: 

KiRSTIN. 

Out of my world I rise, 
If this be I, 
For gazing in thine eyes 
To a new world I rise, 
Never to die. 

A company of heavenly beings welcome her 
into their midst with a song which floats down 
from above. 

CHORUS 

Gone is the struggle, 

Gone the sorrow. 

Wide swings the portal 

To the Invisible. 

Love made thee human — 

Sacrifice, pain — 

And have made thee immortal, 

Tireless and strong. 

On pinions of love 

With love the reward. 

Bridging the worlds. 



mmin 93 



The harmonies of the song grow fainter and 
fainter, more and more remote, melting into si- 
lence. 

CURTAIN 



015 y*" 



